JP2014194522A - Base material for fixing belt, fixing belt, fixing device, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a base material for a fixing belt for an image forming apparatus that has excellent durability, and can be used in high-speed operation.SOLUTION: There is provided a base material for a fixing belt including a copper layer composed of copper laminated on a nickel layer composed of nickel, in which an orientation ratio I(200)/I(111) of the copper layer, which is calculated from a ratio of a peak intensity of a (111) crystal surface to a peak intensity of a (200) crystal surface by X-ray diffraction analysis, is 0.1 or less.

Description

  The present invention relates to a fixing belt substrate, a fixing belt, a fixing device, and an image forming apparatus used in a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and the like using an electrophotographic system.

  In an image forming apparatus using electrophotographic technology such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile machine, a roller and a belt are used as heat fixing parts, which are heated by various means to perform toner fixing. As a roller or belt substrate, a seamless nickel electroformed film manufactured by a nickel electroforming method is generally used.

Here, an example of the toner fixing method will be described.
FIG. 1 shows an image forming apparatus, FIG. 2 shows a fixing device used in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows an enlarged sectional view of a fixing belt used in the fixing apparatus shown in FIG. Shown as a model.

  As shown in FIG. 1, exposure is performed on a photosensitive layer (preliminarily charged by a charging unit) of a drum-shaped image carrier (photoconductor) 11 that rotates at a predetermined speed with a laser beam 13 according to image data. To form an electrostatic latent image. At this time, the laser beam 13 is periodically deflected using a polygon mirror that rotates at a predetermined speed, and the photosensitive layer of the image carrier 11 that rotates in the sub-scanning direction is in the main scanning direction perpendicular to the sub-scanning direction. And repeatedly exposing.

  In this example, a roller-shaped image carrier is used. However, a belt-shaped image carrier supported by a roller-shaped rotating body can also be used. At that time, the transfer nip is formed between the belt-shaped image carrier and the transfer roller, which are supported by the roller-shaped rotating body.

  Next, the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive layer of the image carrier 11 is visualized with powder toner supplied from the developing unit 14 via the developing roller 14a to form a toner image. Thereafter, the transfer bias power supply 30 of the transfer device applies a transfer bias voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner to the transfer portion (transfer roller 15). With this transfer bias voltage, the toner image is fed from the paper feed unit and sent out from the pair of transport rollers 20 and 21 toward the transfer nip formed between the transfer roller 7 of the transfer device and the image carrier 1. Transfer onto the transferred transfer medium P. Thereafter, the toner image on the transfer medium P is pressed and fixed at an appropriate temperature adjusted in advance by a fixing device (fixing unit) 24, and the transfer medium P on which the image is fixed is discharged to a paper discharge unit (not shown). .

  As shown in FIG. 2, this fixing device example 24 has a cylindrical or substantially cylindrical thin aluminum heating pipe 2 in which a heating member 1 such as a halogen heater is installed in the center. In the heating pipe 2, a pressurizing pad 4 fixed to a stay 3 installed in the heating pipe 2 is installed. A seamless nickel electroformed fixing belt 5 ″ having a sliding layer on the inside and an elastic layer and a release layer on the outside is extrapolated to the outer periphery of the heating pipe 2. The heating pipe 2 is fixed. A pressure roller 6 is installed oppositely through the belt 5 ″, and the pressure roller 6 is in contact with the pressure belt 4 through the fixing belt 5 ″. Is biased in the direction of the fixing roller 6 (or the fixing roller 6 may be biased in the direction of the pressure pad 4 by a pressure mechanism (not shown)), and the fixing belt 5 ″ and the pressure roller 6 A nip portion is formed between the two. In the fixing device 24, the fixing belt 5 is driven and rotated as the pressure roller 6 rotates due to the pressure at the nip portion. When the transfer medium 7 on which the toner image is formed is supplied to the nip portion, the transfer medium 7 is pressurized and heated to pass through the nip portion while fixing the toner image.

  A model cross-sectional view of the fixing belt 5 is shown in FIG. The base material of the fixing belt is formed by a nickel layer 51 formed by a nickel electroforming method. A technique is known in which a copper layer made of copper is laminated on the nickel layer 51 to improve thermal conductivity.

  A sliding layer 54 made of a heat-resistant resin such as polyimide or tetrafluoroethylene / perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer (hereinafter also referred to as “PFA”) is laminated on the inner circumference of the endless belt. Has been. Further, an elastic layer 52 made of silicone rubber and a release layer 53 made of fluorine resin such as tetrafluoroethylene / perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer are arranged in this order on the outer periphery of the substrate 51. Are stacked.

  A method for manufacturing a fixing belt substrate by nickel electroforming is as follows. First, a stainless steel cylindrical matrix whose surface has been polished and cleaned is immersed in a nickel electroforming bath and energized to deposit nickel on the matrix surface. The cylindrical matrix is pulled out of the bath, and the deposited nickel electroformed film is demolded. Cut the top and bottom to the required length.

  In a fixing device having a fixing belt using such a metal layer as a base material and an image forming apparatus provided with such a fixing device, a high speed is always required.

  However, in the process of speeding up, the durability of the fixing belt base material has become a problem. That is, as the image forming speed is increased, the fixing belt is rotated at a higher speed than in the past, and while being pressed at the nip portion, the deformation within a shorter time is repeated, thereby causing cracks due to metal fatigue. May occur.

  In response to such a demand for high speed, Patent Document 1 proposes a fixing belt formed by laminating stainless steel, copper, and stainless steel in this order from the inside as a base material of the fixing belt. Since belts made of stainless steel and copper are formed by plastic working such as rolling, the thickness uniformity is inferior compared to the electroforming method, and uneven machining strain remains, resulting in insufficient durability. To do.

  In Patent Document 2, a nickel electroformed film is used as a fixing belt substrate, and the crystal orientation ratio I (200) / I (111) is 80 to 250 and the carbon content is 0. A technique of 0.03 to 0.10% by mass is disclosed. This means that the crystal orientation ratio of nickel contributes to durability. However, since nickel has a low thermal conductivity, when it is used as a base material for a fixing belt with a single nickel layer, heat is not generated in the axial direction. Uniformity occurs, and this problem may become prominent as problems such as image defects occur when the speed is increased.

  In Patent Document 3, a nickel electroformed film is used as a seamless belt base material, and an electroforming matrix is made of nickel and at least one metal element selected from Group 1, Group 6, Group 7 and Group 8 in addition to nickel. And a technique for producing a nickel crystal orientation ratio I (200) / I (111) of 5.0 or more by immersing it in an electrolytic solution containing 10 to 10000 ppm. Since this technique relates to an organic photoreceptor, there is no consideration for thermal conductivity, and when it is used as it is as a fixing belt substrate, heat non-uniformity may occur in the axial direction.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a fixing belt substrate that has excellent durability and can cope with high speed.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fixing belt substrate in which at least a nickel layer made of nickel and a copper layer made of copper are laminated, The orientation ratio I (200) / I (111) calculated from the ratio of the peak intensity of the (200) crystal plane to the peak intensity of the (111) crystal plane is 0.1 or less by X-ray diffraction analysis. It is a base material for a fixing belt characterized by

  The base material for a fixing belt according to the present invention has an orientation ratio I (200) calculated from the ratio of the peak intensity of the (200) crystal plane to the peak intensity of the (111) crystal plane by X-ray diffraction analysis of the copper layer. ) / I (111) is 0.1 or less, and since it is oriented in the crystal plane (111), it is possible to reduce the occurrence of cracks in the copper layer, and thus excellent in thermal conductivity and durability. Can support high speed.

FIG. 1 is a model diagram illustrating an example of an image forming apparatus used in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a model diagram showing a fixing device of the image forming apparatus of FIG. FIG. 3 is a model cross-sectional view showing a cross-section of a fixing belt according to the prior art. FIG. 4 is a model sectional view showing a section of the fixing belt according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a model sectional view showing a section of another fixing belt according to the present invention.

  The fixing belt substrate of the present invention is formed by laminating a nickel layer made of nickel and a copper layer made of copper.

  The thickness of the fixing belt substrate is preferably 10 μm or more and 60 μm or less. If the fixing belt substrate is too thin, the strength as the fixing belt substrate may be insufficient, and if it is too thick, the flexibility as the belt may be reduced. A more preferable range is 20 μm or more and 50 μm or less.

  For such a fixing belt substrate, first, a nickel layer made of nickel is formed by nickel electroforming using an electroforming mother mold made of stainless steel or the like.

  The thickness of the nickel layer that mainly gives strength to the fixing belt substrate is preferably thicker than the thickness of the copper layer described later. If the nickel layer is too thin, sufficient durability may not be obtained when used as a fixing belt.

  The electroformed nickel layer is removed from the matrix, washed as necessary, and then copper electroformed.

  It is preferable that the thickness of the copper layer made of copper that mainly imparts thermal conductivity to the fixing belt substrate is 1 μm or more. If the copper layer is too thin, sufficient thermal conductivity as a fixing belt may not be obtained. More preferably, it is 5 μm or more.

  In the present invention, the orientation ratio I (200) / I (111) calculated from the ratio between the peak intensity of the (200) crystal plane and the peak intensity of the (111) crystal plane by X-ray diffraction analysis of the copper layer is It is necessary to be 0.1 or less. If it exceeds 0.1, a fixing belt having sufficient durability cannot be obtained.

  That is, according to detailed examinations by the present inventors, in a fixing belt using a fixing belt base material in which a copper layer and a nickel layer are laminated, a crack is generated from the copper layer and breaks. However, by using the above specific orientation ratio, the durability of the copper layer can be remarkably improved, and as a result, a fixing belt having excellent durability can be obtained.

Such a copper layer is obtained, for example, by electroforming as follows.
As a copper electroforming bath to be used, a simple copper electroforming bath composed of copper sulfate and sulfuric acid is used. That is, an aqueous solution of copper (II) sulfate pentahydrate CuSO 4 .5H 2 O of 60 to 100 g / L (liter) and sulfuric acid H 2 SO 4 of 180 to 220 g / L is used as the electroforming bath. The bath temperature at the time of electroforming is adjusted to 55 ± 3 ° C., and the energization ratio 1 (200) / I (111) as described above is obtained by performing energization of 1 to 5 A / dm 2 while rotating the mother die. A copper layer of 0.1 or less can be provided.

  Here, when gelatin (for glossiness adjustment) or hydrochloric acid (for glossiness adjustment) contained in a general copper plating bath is added, the effects of the present invention may not be obtained.

  Thus, an electroformed product in which a nickel layer made of nickel and a copper layer made of copper are stacked may be used as a base material. However, when stored in this state, the copper layer surface is oxidized, the adhesiveness during processing of the fixing belt is lowered, and sufficient durability may not be obtained.

  Here, the above problem can be solved by providing a protective layer on the surface of the copper layer opposite to the surface on which the nickel layer is laminated.

  As the protective layer, a resin film or the like that can be easily peeled off during processing to the fixing belt may be provided to prevent oxidation in the period until processing. Alternatively, a heat-resistant resin layer such as polyimide or polyamideimide may be provided and processed into a fixing belt while the heat-resistant resin layer is laminated.

  Furthermore, as the protective layer, a protective layer made of nickel can be provided. In this case, the nickel layer is not easily oxidized, and oxidation of the copper layer can be prevented by protection by the protective layer made of nickel. As a result, the occurrence of cracks in the copper layer during use as a fixing belt can be further reduced, so that a highly durable fixing belt can be obtained. This nickel layer can be formed by an electroforming method, in which case the equipment and electroforming bath used above can be used as they are. When the nickel layer is provided as the protective layer, the thickness is not limited to the flexibility of the fixing belt substrate and can prevent air contact with the copper layer. For example, the thickness is 0.5 μm or more and 5 μm or less.

  Here, the fixing belt substrate of the present invention has the two-layer structure as described above, and is formed into an endless belt shape so that the copper layer or the protective layer is on the outer peripheral side as necessary. A fixing belt can be obtained in the same manner as the above fixing belt.

  Specifically, the elastic layer and the release layer are laminated in this order on the outer peripheral side of the fixing belt substrate formed in an infinite belt shape so that the copper layer (protective layer) is on the outer peripheral side.

  FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a model of Example 5 of the fixing belt according to the present invention. The fixing belt substrate 40 is formed by laminating a nickel layer 41, a copper layer 42, and a protective layer 43 made of nickel in this order. The elastic layer 44 and the release layer 45 are laminated in this order on the copper layer 42 side (protective layer 43 side). Further, a sliding layer 46 is laminated on the nickel layer 41 side (the inner peripheral side of the fixing belt substrate 40).

  FIG. 5 shows a model cross-sectional view of another example 5 'of the fixing belt according to the present invention. The fixing belt substrate 40 ′ is formed by laminating a nickel layer 41 and a copper layer 42. An elastic layer 44 and a release layer 45 are laminated in this order on the copper layer 42 side. Further, a sliding layer 46 is laminated on the nickel layer 41 side (the inner peripheral side of the fixing belt substrate 40 ′).

  Here, the elastic layer 44 allows the fixing belt to follow the unevenness formed by the image recording paper or toner during image fixing, and enables stable image fixing. Such an elastic layer is formed by, for example, laminating silicone rubber so as to have a thickness of 100 μm to 200 μm. By using silicone rubber, sufficient heat resistance required when a fixing belt is obtained can be obtained. If the elastic layer is too thin, it may not be able to follow the irregularities formed by the image recording paper or toner during image fixing, resulting in poor fixing, and if it is too thick, heat transfer performance for fixing may be caused. It may worsen and partially cause poor fixing. A more preferable thickness is 100 μm or more and 150 μm or less.

  Further, the presence of the release layer can prevent the toner and other dirt from adhering to the surface of the fixing belt, so that the function of the fixing belt can be maintained for a long period of time. As such a release layer, for example, PFA is laminated and formed so as to have a thickness of 5 μm to 40 μm. When the thickness of the release layer is too thin, defects such as holes and cracks are generated in the release layer, and durability may be insufficient. If it is too thick, the heat transfer performance for fixing may deteriorate, or it may not be possible to follow the unevenness formed by the image recording paper or toner during image fixing, resulting in poor fixing. A more preferable thickness is 5 μm or more and 10 μm or less.

  As described above, in the fixing belts 5 and 5 ′, the sliding layer 46 is provided on the inner periphery thereof. When the sliding layer 46 is used as the fixing belt of the fixing device 24 shown in FIG. 2, the fixing belt rotates in contact with the pressing pad 4 and following the movement of the transfer medium and the pressing roller. It has a function to enable it.

  Such a sliding layer is formed by laminating a layer made of polyimide or PFA having good slidability on the inner peripheral surface of the fixing belt substrate so that the thickness is 5 μm or more and 30 μm or less. If the sliding layer is too thin, the substrate may be exposed in a relatively short period of time due to wear, resulting in insufficient durability. If it is too thick, heat transfer performance for fixing may be deteriorated, resulting in poor fixing. There is. A more preferable thickness is 10 μm or more and 20 μm or less.

  After forming the layer structure as described above, it is cut to a predetermined length as necessary. The both end faces of the fixing belt substrate of the present invention preferably have a maximum cross-sectional height Rt of 2 μm or less when the surface roughness is evaluated. With such a configuration, it is possible to eliminate a portion that is highly likely to be the starting point of the fracture of the fixing belt, and as a result, it is possible to obtain a fixing belt with good durability. In order to obtain such a maximum cross-sectional height Rt, for example, the both end surfaces of the fixing belt are cut and then polished using an abrasive paper or an elastic grindstone.

  The fixing belt of the present invention thus obtained can be used by being incorporated in, for example, the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 having the fixing device shown in FIG. Further, unlike the fixing device having other configurations, for example, the fixing device 24 shown in FIG. In such a fixing device, the heat generating member directly heats the fixing belt, and the toner is heated at the nip portion by the heat of the fixing belt.

  While the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, the fixing belt substrate, the fixing belt, the fixing device, and the image forming apparatus of the present invention are not limited to the configurations of the above embodiments.

  A person skilled in the art can appropriately modify the fixing belt substrate, the fixing belt, the fixing device, and the image forming apparatus of the present invention in accordance with conventionally known knowledge. Of course, such modifications are included in the scope of the present invention as long as they include the configurations of the fixing belt substrate, the fixing belt, the fixing device, and the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

<Fixing Belt Substrate 1 According to the Present Invention>
A three-layer fixing belt base material (corresponding to the fixing belt base material 40 in FIG. 4) of a three-layer structure of a nickel layer, a copper layer, and a protective layer made of nickel is produced by changing the formation conditions of the copper layer. did.

First, a fixing belt substrate was prepared by electroforming.
The mother die used for electroforming is made of stainless steel (SUS316), and the portion used for electroforming is a cylindrical shape with a thickness of 30 mm. The surface is processed so that the surface roughness (core average roughness) Ra is 0.02 μm or less so that the electroforming film can be easily peeled and removed. The above master mold and an anode at a position opposite to the master mold were installed in the electroforming tank.

  The electroforming bath used was 525 g / L of nickel sulfamate, which can be easily electrocasted as a nickel salt and does not easily reach the tensile stress side, 33 g / L of boric acid as a pH buffer, and low stress nickel bromide as a nickel halide. The basic bath composition was 3 g / L. Other additives were as follows. 0.02 g / L of sodium dodecyl sulfate as a pit inhibitor. 0.08 g / L of p-toluenesulfonamide as the primary brightener. As a secondary brightener, 0.1 g / L of 2-butyne-1,4-diol. 0.2 g / L of sodium phosphinate (sodium hypophosphite) to improve the heat resistance of the electroformed film.

The pH of the electroforming bath was adjusted to 4, and the bath temperature during electroforming was adjusted to 55 ± 3 ° C.
While rotating the mother die around the axis of the cylinder, a current density of 3 A / dm 2 was applied to form a nickel layer having a thickness of 30 μm. Thereafter, the mother mold having a nickel layer formed on the surface was pulled up from the electroforming tank and washed with water.

Subsequently, copper electroforming was performed. The copper electroforming bath used was an aqueous solution in which copper (II) sulfate pentahydrate was added at a concentration of 80 g / L and sulfuric acid at a concentration of 200 g / L. The bath temperature at the time of electroforming is adjusted to 55 ± 3 ° C., and a current density is applied in three different conditions in the range of 3 to 5 A / dm ² while rotating the mother die to form a 10 μm thick copper layer. did. Thereafter, the mother mold was lifted from the electroforming tank, washed with water, and dried.

  About these three kinds of intermediate products, the X-ray diffraction analysis is performed from the surface of the copper layer, the peak intensity of the (200) crystal plane and the peak intensity of the (111) crystal plane are measured, and calculated from these ratios. The orientation ratio I (200) / I (111) (hereinafter also referred to as “orientation ratio”) was calculated. The results are shown in Table 1. The conditions for X-ray diffraction analysis are shown in Table 2.

  Thereafter, in the same manner as the nickel layer formation described above, a protective layer made of nickel having a layer thickness of 1 μm was formed.

  After forming the protective layer, the mother die having a fixing belt substrate formed on the surface thereof is immersed in cold water, and a gap is formed between the mother die and the fixing belt substrate due to a difference in thermal expansion, thereby the fixing belt from the mother die. The base material for a mold was demolded to obtain three types of base materials 1 ((1) to (3)) for a fixing belt according to the present invention.

<Fixing Belt Substrate 2 According to the Present Invention>
Similar to the fixing belt substrate 1 (2) except that a protective layer is not provided, that is, a fixing belt substrate having a two-layer structure of a nickel layer and a copper layer (the fixing belt substrate in FIG. 5). Material 40 ′). At this time, the orientation ratio I (200) / I (111) of the copper layer calculated from the ratio between the peak intensity of the (200) crystal plane and the peak intensity of the (111) crystal plane is also shown in Table 1. .

<Fixing Belt Substrate 3 According to the Present Invention>
Similar to the fixing belt substrate 1 (3), except that the thickness of both the nickel layer and the copper layer is 20 μm, that is, the three-layer structure of the nickel layer, the copper layer, and the protective layer. Was made. The orientation ratio I (200) / I (111) of the copper layer at this time is also shown in Table 1.

<Fixing Belt Substrate of Comparative Example 1>
In the same manner as the fixing belt substrate 1 (1) of the above embodiment, except that a brightening agent gelatin was added to the copper electroforming bath so as to have a concentration of 10 ppm. A material was prepared. The orientation ratio I (200) / I (111) of the copper layer at this time is also shown in Table 1.

<Fixing Belt Substrate of Comparative Example 2>
Similar to the fixing belt substrates 1 (1) and 1 (2) of the above examples, except that a brightening agent hydrochloric acid is added to the copper electroforming bath to a concentration of 60 ppm to form a three-layer structure. Each fixing belt substrate was prepared. These are fixing belt substrates 2 (1) and 2 (2) of Comparative Example 2. The orientation ratio I (200) / I (111) of the copper layer at this time is also shown in Table 1.

<Fixing Belt Substrate of Comparative Example 3>
In the same manner as the fixing belt substrates 1 (2) and 1 (3), except that gelatin is added to the copper electroforming bath to a concentration of 10 ppm and hydrochloric acid to 60 ppm. Fixing belt substrates (fixing belt substrates 3 (1) and 3 (2) of Comparative Example 2) were respectively produced. The orientation ratio I (200) / I (111) of the copper layer at this time is also shown in Table 1.

<Preparation of fixing belt>
A fixing belt was produced using the ten types of fixing belt substrates.
A silicone rubber layer (elastic layer) having a thickness of 120 μm is applied as an elastic layer on the outer periphery of each fixing belt substrate, that is, on the copper layer (or protective layer) side, and a precursor agent is applied by a spray coating method. And heat-treated for 2 hours. Then, a PFA layer (release layer) having a thickness of 10 μm was applied as a release layer by applying a precursor agent by a spray coating method, and then heat-treated at 340 ° C. for 2 hours.

<Preparation of fixing belt>
Further, a polyimide layer (lubricant layer) having a thickness of 15 μm was applied to the inner peripheral surface of the fixing belt substrate, and then heat-treated at 200 ° C. for 30 minutes.

  Next, unnecessary portions at both ends of these intermediate bodies are cut, and then polished with a tool formed by winding abrasive paper around an elastic body, and the maximum cross section at the time of evaluating the surface roughness of both end surfaces of the fixing belt substrate portion A fixing belt having a height Rt of 2 μm or less and a length of 370 mm was obtained.

<Evaluation of fixing belt>
A total of 10 types of fixing belts obtained above were evaluated.
1 were attached as fixing belts to the fixing device of the image forming apparatus shown as a model in FIG. 1, and a fixing operation of 400,000 A4 plates (paper was supplied in the short side direction) was performed under the same conditions. At this time, the presence or absence of cracks in the fixing belt or the presence or absence of breakage was examined. When cracks or breaks occurred during the fixing operation, the number of processed sheets (in units of 10,000 sheets) until that time was examined. The results are also shown in Table 1.

  From Table 1, the fixing belt using the fixing belt substrate according to the present invention having an orientation ratio I (200) / I (111) of 0.1 or less by X-ray diffraction analysis has excellent durability. It is understood. Further, in the fixing belt according to the present invention, there is no occurrence of uneven fixing, and the obtained image is good even when the whole image is uniform, and it is confirmed that the copper layer prevents the occurrence of high temperature unevenness. It was done.

  In addition, using the fixing belt substrate produced in the same manner as the wearing belt substrate 1 (2), an elastic layer, a release layer, and a lubricating layer were formed in the same manner as described above, and both ends were cut. A fixing belt produced without polishing the end face was produced. The maximum cross-sectional height Rt at the time of evaluating the surface roughness of the both end surfaces of the fixing belt substrate portion is 2.2 μm. When this fixing belt is evaluated in the same manner as described above, fracture occurs in the fixing operation of 350,000 sheets. It was.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Heat generating member 2 Heating pipe 3 Stay 4 Pressing pad 5, 5 'Example of fixing belt according to the present invention 5 "Fixing belt according to the prior art 6 Pressure roller 11 Image carrier 13 Laser beam 14 Developing section 14a Developing roller 15 Transfer roller 20, 21 Conveying roller 24 Fixing device 40, 40 ′ Fixing belt substrate 41 Nickel layer 42 Copper layer 43 Protective layer 44 Elastic layer 45 Release layer 46 Sliding layer P Recording medium

JP 2010-217347 A JP 2004-183034 A JP 2006-84718 A

Claims (8)

At least, a fixing belt substrate configured by laminating a nickel layer composed of nickel and a copper layer composed of copper,
The orientation ratio I (200) / I (111) calculated from the ratio of the peak intensity of the (200) crystal plane to the peak intensity of the (111) crystal plane is 0.1 by X-ray diffraction analysis of the copper layer. A fixing belt substrate characterized by the following:   The fixing belt substrate according to claim 1, wherein a protective layer is provided on a surface of the copper layer opposite to a surface on which the nickel layer is laminated.   The fixing belt substrate according to claim 1, wherein the protective layer is made of nickel.   The thickness of the base material for fixing belt is 20 μm or more and 50 μm or less, and the thickness of the nickel layer is thicker than the thickness of the copper layer. 2. A fixing belt substrate according to item 1. A fixing belt having the fixing belt substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The fixing belt base material has an endless belt shape with the copper layer side as the outer periphery, and
A fixing belt, wherein an elastic layer and a release layer are laminated in this order on the outer peripheral side of the fixing belt substrate.   The fixing belt according to claim 5, wherein the maximum cross-sectional height Rt when the surface roughness of both end faces of the fixing belt substrate is evaluated is 2 μm or less.   A fixing device comprising the fixing belt substrate according to claim 1.   An image forming apparatus comprising the fixing belt substrate according to claim 1.

Images